


A New Year Starts Today

by amberwoods



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I ship them more than I had planned on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 07:11:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9224435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberwoods/pseuds/amberwoods
Summary: Of course, Astoria didn’t notice Neville at all. She had better things to do with her time than notice a Gryffindor wizard who had, admittedly, dried up nicely in the last year. She was trying to change the world here. No time for chit-chat.Neville, however, now couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He just… noticed her. Everywhere.





	

Neville started noticing Astoria Greengrass during an extra lecture of _History of Magic_. Admittedly, he was only there because he had to be – his grades for the course were slipping. He had the bad habit of putting all his time into the courses he liked and forgetting all about the ones he didn’t.

They started off with the generic stuff, but somewhere along the line professor Binns got distracted and started talking a bit about the history of magic in south-east Asia. It was just a few lines, but Astoria _jumped_ on it.

You couldn’t really blame her. Everyone the Greengrass’s were mixed, although most people didn’t know where exactly their mother was from. Neville found out that day in class.

Astoria was passionate and enthusiastic and kept firing questions at professor Binns. She was only a year younger than he was, but the difference seemed so big at that time. Her sister Daphne was her total opposite: she’d inherited more of her father’s appearance and always looked older than she was.

Some people dozed off during Astoria’s interrogation, but most people felt more awake just by looking at her. They giggled at the situation and looked expectantly at professor Binns. Astoria hardly seemed to notice. When the conversation started going distinctly in the direction of Malaysian wizards, Neville got the message.

Malaysia. He knew next to nothing about Malaysia. He wouldn’t even be able to point it out on a map. For some reason, that frustrated him. He felt ignorant and childish and as if he was running out of time to explore the world. So, afterwards, he went to the library and looked up Malaysia on the map.

He went over the lines on the parchment with his thumb, a focused frown between his eyes. Astoria’s face appeared on his mind. She was very beautiful.

Determinedly, he took out books on Asian wizards and got ready for a long night.

Of course, Astoria didn’t notice Neville at all. She had better things to do with her time than notice a Gryffindor wizard who had, admittedly, dried up nicely in the last year. She was trying to change the world here. No time for chit-chat.

There _was_ time, however, to finally academically discuss her heritage. That was _lovely._ One of the best conversations she’d had that year. But after that, it was back to planning on how to get some more muggle rights into pureblood society. It was high time. They were being ridiculous.

Neville, however, now couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He just… _noticed_ her. Everywhere.

He saw her walking across the grounds with her friends, an abundance of colours, red, yellow, blue, green, because apparently Astoria didn’t _care_ about people’s houses, and he saw her in the greenhouses, taking notes on flowers, fondly touching the petals. And once, he saw her standing at the field that he knew was meant for the Thestrals, even though he couldn’t see them. The way she stood there in the wind, eyes on something he couldn’t see, melancholy written all over her, left a bigger impact on him than he had expected.

He’d known she was nice. He’d known she was gentle. But he hadn’t known she was _sad_.

Seeing her standing there filled him with a fiery rush of unprovoked protectiveness. She was so tough, but she was so small.

Astoria only started noticing Neville at the end of January. She was helping out at the greenhouses when he came in to do his homework there. He likes sitting at a wooden table at the back of the greenhouse, doing his homework in the humid air, the smell of earth and plants all around him. He was surprised to see her and instantly froze, a blush creeping up on him.

She was carrying three pots at a time and for a moment he just looked at her. Her tongue was peeping out of her mouth, she had a big frown on her face and she was focusing all her attention on keeping the balance of the pots. She was a lot smaller than he was, especially after his sudden growth spurt of that year, but she looked like being small didn’t stop her from doing anything.

With a start, he was pulled back into reality. He rushed towards her. “Let me help!”

Astoria looked up in surprise and almost dropped a pot. She tried not to hold that against him. Luckily, Neville caught it right before it fell with an awkward: “Woah…!”

In a strange turn of events, they were standing in the middle of the greenhouses, frozen, staring at the pot that had almost been smashed to pieces on the floor.

Astoria let out an awkward, relieved laugh. “That was close.”

“Sorry,” Neville said sheepishly, the blush returning to his cheeks, “I was trying to help.”

She giggled, still a little shaken. “I got that. Thanks.” She smiled at him.

Neville was _not_ prepared for that. Or, at least, he was not prepared for what that would _do_ to him. Suddenly, being on the receiving side of Astoria Greengrass’s smile was the most important and the most beautiful thing in the world. It scared him a little, frankly.

“No problem,” he managed to stammer. He looked back at the pot quickly. “Where are they supposed to go?”

She gestured to the other side of the greenhouse with a nod of her head. She loose bun she was wearing bobbed along. “That way.”

They walked there together, exchanging polite nothings for a bit, and put the pots down right next to Neville’s preferred working place.

“So,” Astoria then said, “I’m going to go now. See you later…”

Too late she realised she had forgotten his name.

“Neville,” he filled in for her quickly.

“Neville.”

“Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah.” She nodded at him one more time and then walked away.

However, Neville had a sudden realisation. “Oh! Astoria!”

Surprised he knew her name at all, she turned around.

On the other side of the greenhouse, between the plants, Neville was smiling at her. He looked perfect in the surroundings – happy and at peace.

“Happy New Year,” he said.

Astoria was speechless for a moment. “Thanks,” she then stammered.

Neville’s smile widened for a moment and he waved at her.

Confused, Astoria turned walked away.

She had not expected him to know it was Chinese New Year that day. She had not even expected him to know her _name._ It completely caught her off guard.

From then on, Astoria found herself noticing Neville everywhere. And, to her surprise, she was filled with a warm, shaky delight when she realised that he was looking at her too.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Join me in this rare dork ship.


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